Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Blog:
My media blog was extremely useful to me throughout all of my productions. This type of mass media permitted me to add all of my research and planning, for example videos, audios, graphics, scanned images. I was able to review comments about my progress throughout the practical productions; this was a great deal of help as I could edit my posts there and then. By using the media blog it permitted me to document back on to previous information without the accumulation of paperwork.
My media blog allowed me to separate my work into specific sections; this is very beneficial when revising for my exam and not only this but it made my work organised and broke down each unit of the production. My blog is accessed through the internet so this permitted me to attach any stills or embed any videos from proficient sites or from social networking sites, as my blog is a mass media, I could also ask for immediate feedback from other students as they could access my media blog as well as other audiences through the internet.
While discovering designs for my print productions I was able to post drafts or ideas on to my blog and receive comments from my teachers instantly.

Music Video:
The camera I used when shooting my advanced production was a Sony Handycam Mini DV. Having a digital video recorder enabled me to review my raw footage straight after I had shot; this allowed me to improve each shot as soon as I had recorded the previous shot. The tripod I used while shooting was also beneficial because it allowed me to place my camera in any position, this was useful when shooting the skateboard tricks as I had to situate the camera very low to the ground.
Adobe Premier Elements was the software I used to edit my music video it provided many effects and sounds to add to my production.

(Slow motion shot into 'dip to black')

This area of the course required concentration and skill in order to utilize the genre of my artist, as I was going for a rural theme I had to choose subtle and enticing transitions, sounds, effects and titles.

('Cross dissolve' transition) Adobe Premier Elements gave me the freedom to select and cut a narrative structure; as I chose not to have a specific narrative and based my production on a montage of shots instead I had to keep the video to the correct timing of the track, the software made this easier for me because of the detailed timeline it entailed, this also kept from my music video looking amateur. The cross-dissolve transition helped me achieve linking the speed of the track with the edit and enabled me to join two completely different scenes together, for example: the close up shot of my artist to the shot of a skateboard trick, this could have been hard to connect but with the cross dissolve transition it added depth and interest to the mise-en-scene. Premier Elements also allowed me to speed up or slow down parts of my production, I used this when my artist played with the devil sticks; I slowed the speed down to accentuate that this was his recurring motif throughout and therefore audiences would appreciate the artist with this eccentricity.

YouTube played a crucial part in research for genre conventions as it gave me immediate access to artists’ music videos; it gave me the freedom to pick out ideas of different music videos which I could include in my own.
Print Productions:
I used Adobe Photoshop to manipulate my print productions. Photoshop was essential when editing my digital pack. The internet was extremely helpful when researching vinyl and CD cases because I was able to search through different artists’ websites such as, Finley Quaye, Nick Drake; to find their visual approach to the genre.
For panels 2 and 3 I took photographs on the set so a potential audience can recognise and identify with the artists free spirit and laid back style. For panels 1 and 4 I used screenshots which were taken directly out of my music video I did this to utilize a familiar brand style with the potential fan base. For the front cover of my digital pack I used lots of different faces of Laurence (my artist) to utilize his independence and solo performance style. To create an effective and eye catching design, I cut and inserted each image and placed them next to each other by creating a layer for each image, I added the text and the border afterwards. I received this idea from the Hip-Hop group “A Tribe Called Quest” where they have integrated an album with faces of well known artists in the hip-hop genre.
The back panel* of my digital pack demonstrates a silhouette shot of my artist playing his guitar, it’s a calm, dark blue image and the white text seems to be subtly coming out of the cloudy sky; this integrated style shows a tranquil environment to appeal to the potential fan base of the folk genre.
Both the two inside panels are photographs which I took while shooting, both show my artist performing in the same locations as in the music video and both are traditional British settings which emphasise the artists visual roots; the third panel shows a small amount of information about my artist.
For my magazine advert I used a still image which I took while shooting the music video. The image I chose shows an overwhelming amount of space and relaxation which is perfect when utilizing the acoustic and folk genre. I used a bold font to cover the top of the image to catch the audience’s attention. I did not manipulate this image in any way because I thought it was just as affective without being edited and I wanted to keep that natural state that I’ve been trying to achieve throughout the music video and print productions to connote genre.
Using Adobe Photoshop to create my print productions was much easier than hand drawing designs because it’s much less time consuming and it expanded my knowledge in the editing software which I will now be able to use more confidently in the future.